Fall Foods

Just a couple of recipes to share so I can close a few browser windows I've had open for a while!!

Last Wednesday was our final delivery in the CSA we've been in the last 26 weeks and we were GLAD! It's just been overwhelming as we got into summer and busier work, travel and everything else. It's just been a crazy past few months and it became a third job trying to use everything up and find recipes for things and even find the space in the fridge for it all. We ended up having a lot of it ruin, which was never our intention. I don't think we will do one again, unless it has every other week deliveries/smaller portions, at least not for a while. We will continue eating local and organic, just buying from the farmers market/organic sections in quantities we know we can eat. We only eat organic produce and meats, and will continue to do so.

A lot of the other foods we eat are also organic, which of course drives our grocery bill higher than I'd like. I'm going to try to do the All You grocery challenge, which puts you at $25/person, so $75 per week for us. (And then add extra for the week each month I have to buy Pippin's food, which is $15/bag.) Considering our bill is usually $100-$150 per week, including saving about 15-20% with coupons, it's going to be interesting but we can do it. My pantry and freezer are ridiculous and out of control, so we're going to make a lot of pantry meals!

We got an insane quantity of fall squash, many of which have become a lovely dining room table display for this fall. I did finally find some time a week or two ago to use some of them for actual eating purposes! First I made this Butternut Squash Soup and let it simmer all afternoon on a Sunday. It was SO good and was a great excuse to try out my new immersion blender. We all loved it, and since Lilli is a soup fan and it was creamy (vs chunky) she happily ate it, especially when we called it our special Halloween soup. Win! We had enough leftover for each of our lunches the following day and to make the Butternut Squash Risotto. Since all the hard work was in the original soup, this one made for a quick and easy (and healthy!!) week night meal we all enjoyed. We had roasted some chicken earlier in the week, so we ate that as a little bit of protein on the side, but it's really filling enough to be the main course.

I also made these low fat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies for a meeting at work. Lilli helped me with them one evening, and they were easy to make and really delicious. They didn't taste low fat at all, and the pumpkin spice flavor was perfect for fall! I've rarely been disappointed with a Skinny Taste recipe, and there's no reason a dessert can't be lowfat and also taste good!